The comm had chimed a little after lunch, Fuse wondering if he should ignore the call, but something in his gut told him it was important.

When it was Gordon, it was always important.

A bomb needed defusing and there was no one else available to help. Not even his big-brained brother in space could tear himself away from his own rescue situation.

There was something to be said about having a purpose and it was true now as Fuse grabbed the handbook needed for such a complicated device. So, with a wireless mic in his ear to prevent Havoc from overhearing, they got to work.

Four minutes to work out the solution or the Squid was dead.

"Alright, this model should have multiple triggers. Mess even one up and boom," Fuse warned.

"I know how bombs work," the rebuke was tight with the need to deactivate the device. "Just tell me where to start."

"You gotta tell me, Squid. What do ya see?" Elbows leaned on the table, dark brown eyes scanning the book before him.

"Wires, a button, some weird symbols," as soon as Gordon's words sounded through his earpiece, the demolitions expert was already assembling an image in his mind.

"Start with the wires. What do they look like?"

"Two black, one blue, one yellow, and one red."

He had an answer, but he also had time. Fuse flipped through the manual until he found the sequence he needed, "Cut the yellow wire."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

A pause and then a chime through the comm, "Okay, did it and now there's a green light."

"Okay, the button now," he let out a breath as his nerves started to wear on him. "What color is it?"

"Uh - green," there was a wince on the other end.

"You okay?" Fuse asked, even knowing the time was ticking past three minutes.

"Yeah, I'm good, now what?"

"Press it, but don't let go," Fuse warned. "There should be a light next to it. What color is it?"

"Yellow."

Cool, easy, "Let it go when you see a four on the countdown."

Another pause as they waited, "Done, green light."

Plenty of time for the next part then, "Alright, tell me about the symbols."

"There're six, top left looks like a backwards c shooting a lightning bolt."

Fuse looked over the images after turning to the appropriate page, his finger sliding across each one until he found what seemed to match Gordon's description. "Got it, next one?"

"Dabbing h."

"A what?"

An exasperated sigh, "An h that looks like it's dabbing - Oh! Or an upside down y with a line over the tail."

"Ah," he shook his head before finding the image. "Next."

Two minute mark.

"Alien three with a tail."

"The hell, Squid."

"It's a three with antenna and a loop coming off the end, c'mon, Fuse."

He was tempted to hang up, but as he found the symbol, he couldn't help grinning, "Okay, I've got the pattern. Hit the upside down y with the line."

"Done."

"There should be one that looks like two K's back to back, hit that one."

"Got it."

"Alright, and now the ash symbol."

A pause, "The what?"

"The ash symbol," he repeated as clearly as he could.

"I don't know what that is."

Fuse's mouth fell open in dismay, "It looks like an a and an e smashed together."

"Oh! Got it!" There was a grin in the aquanaut's voice. "Now what?"

A brow rose in confusion, "What do ya mean? That shoulda been it."

"It's got a green light, but it's still counting down," Gordon's voice had regained some of his earlier strain.

That didn't make sense - unless, "Are there any other components?"

Almost to the one minute mark.

"I don't see any," a beat where all Fuse could hear was the tick of the timer. "Wait - Fuse! There's one on the back!"

Crud - "Alright, we can do this. What do you see?"

"A row of numbers and a screen with a number on top of them."

Pages flew as Fuse pushed his way through the book. It took him longer than he would've liked to find the strings of text, "This one should have five stages. What number do you see on the screen?"

"One."

"Hit the third number from the right."

Thirty seconds.

"Got it," his tone was intense as they waited. "Next number is five."

"Alright, should be the number one."

"Should be?"

"- is. It is number one."

"Okay, okay, done. Next number - four."

Fuse read, "If the number on the screen is four, hit the number that was pressed in the first stage."

"What?"

"That's on you, Squid," he felt the bead of sweat trickle over his temple. "What number did you press first?"

"Um," a pause that took far more time than he would have liked. "I - I can't remember."

"Concentrate, it was the third from the right."

"Woo! I guessed - it was three. Next number is two."

Ten seconds.

Hell.

Fuse read through the instructions for the number. Crap, "Two!"

Five seconds.

"A zero - Fuse!"

Three…Two…

"It's thr-" One.

An explosion sounded over the comm, the sign that they'd failed, terribly. Fuse let the book fall to the table, leaning back in his seat to press a hand to the earpiece, "Squid?"

Nothing came through other than the rumble of the device. As it died down, he could make out the pained gasps coming from the man on the other end.

"Squid, ya better be okay."

Another long moment and then a groan through gasped breaths, "Ow ow - shouldn't laugh that hard."

"Idiot," Fuse slumped, fighting the urge to berate his friend. "You're gonna bust a stitch if you're not careful."

"I'll be f- ow," Gordon grunted and the demolitions expert could almost imagine his friend holding the patch that covered the eight inches of laceration. "So, why'd we have to play this on hard?"

Because he was a demolitions expert and anything less would've been too simple, "Cause we needed a challenge."

"Wanna go again? Bet we could beat it this time," but even as the blonde said it, there was the drawl of a yawn before he winced.

"Next time," Fuse chuckled. "Ya sound like you need a break." Where he had expected a rebuttal, all he received was silence. He'd dealt with Gordon clamming up when he wasn't willing to talk, but this seemed different. Weird how someone could grow on him to the point he could read the hesitation. "Oi, what's wrong?"

A sigh that spoke of the door opening to the true issue ghosted through his earpiece, "Just - tired of getting sidelined. I know it's only been a week, but being stuck on the island - feelin' a bit useless."

"So, playin' a bomb defusal video game seemed like an appropriate option?" Fuse grinned, understanding what his friend was dealing with.

"Better than sitting on the couch watching reruns of Into the Unknown. I mean, I love it, but kinda not as enjoyable with my family off saving the world," and he meant his entire family. Penelope was on assignment with Parker while his brothers were dealing with an avalanche.

Something in what Gordon said immediately sparked an idea, "How about I pull out my vids and watch from here? Like we're hangin' out even when we're not."

A laugh - not the kind that threatened to tear the aquanaut apart - and he answered, "Okay, no more bombs. What episode? Massive Megalodon? Legend of the Ness? Supreme Swarms?"

Fuse physically shivered at the last one, "Not that one! Definitely not a bug fan. Especially, swarms."

"Got it, no creepy crawlies," mood lifting, Gordon offered the next suggestion, "What about Arctic Adventure, the search for the snow yeti?"

"Classic, sounds good," he had it pulled up before anything else could be put on the proverbial table. "Gonna grab some snacks, then, marathon."

"Ditto," and even though the mic was still in his ear as he headed for the kitchen, he almost missed the soft 'hey' from the blonde. Fuse paused just long enough for the continuation. "Thanks for hangin' with me."

"Any time - y'know, except when our families are around."

Nothing further needed to be said as they prepared for their impromptu movie night, both just happy for some amicable company.